Dear God . . .
What follows is a prayer from the broken whose hearts have wandered from Your
ways . . .
 |
| http://www.sxc.hu/photo/788582 |
God, we ask You to turn our eyes from
worthless things…
The
Scriptures have a word for this, repentance.
Unfortunately, this word has so many negative connotations in our culture. It
is often put into the same category as judgment, self-righteousness, and
arrogance. Historically, repentance has been misused, abused, and weaponized
causing immense harm to our fellow humans…humans You created.
I am confident
this has not been Your intent. Your Scriptures teach us that repentance is the
seed of holiness which produces the fruit of love, generosity,
selfless-servanthood, and obedience.
Your son Jesus taught us that repentance
is the most important turn we will ever make in our lives. It is the turning of
our hearts away from worthless things like pride, distrust, and disobedience.
It is the Holy Spirit empowered process of becoming free to flourish, to love
deeply, to forgive, to serve with immense joy, and to craft a life of
generosity. Repentance is the life-giving turn of admitting we have turned to
worthless idols to fill our souls, apologizing to You for this, and asking You
to align our hearts with Yours. You have said this so powerfully through the
writer of Hebrews…
Therefore, since we are surrounded by
such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and
the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with
perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the
pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God…Hebrews 12.1-2 [NIV].
God, as we
traverse this forty day prayer journey please reveal to us the things that
entangle us. Show us what is keeping us from flourishing in our relationship
with You. Show us what needs to go. We invite You to untangle and heal our sin that
we cannot overcome. You are invited to untangle the bitterness, resentment, and
anger that resides in our hearts from a broken relationship. We plead with You
to untangle our hearts from the many false idols that reside there and steal
glory from you. Please replace our false idols with worship, honor, and
adoration for you alone.
God, please make
this a season of rebirth, transformation, and a renewed energy to follow your
ways. God, we ask that your Spirit be poured out into our lives in a way that
surprises us, fascinates us, and in a way that leads to profound obedience. Amen.
-Dan Wright
No comments:
Post a Comment